Readers' Choice

Let's be honest. The days of a dawdle down to Nogales are over. We miss the pretty drive through the desert to the sweet little town, where we used to spend hours hunting for punched-tin frames and Dia de los Muertos figures (and maybe a bit of time hunting for perfectly legal Xanax). But now, Nogales is war-torn, the victim of drug cartels, and we can't convince Aunt Dorothy that crossing the border is a good idea. But she wants a souvenir of her trip to Arizona, so we take her to Scottsdale — specifically, to Mexican Import. This store is packed with the embroidered dresses, painted terra cotta figures, piñatas, and other tchotchkes you'll find in the border town shops, but there's none of the drama, and you'll spend a lot less on gas. When you're done shopping, blow your savings on a margarita down the block at The Mission.

Barrio Cafe chef Silvana Salcido Esparza turned 50 this year, and she was pissed. It wasn't the number of candles on her cake or years she's spent building her restaurant business on 16th Street — it was Arizona Senate Bill 1070. Esparza's been glued to the news and images of Arizona's Mexican community in all its lackluster glory on the big screen. "Oh, we have a vibrant community here," she says. "We just need a center for that community to really shine." So she started with her back wall. Esparza brought in El Moises to paint a mural, and then she was struck with a vision: a Calle of Murals. She set up a Facebook page, then an e-mail address, then a website. She has almost 20 artists and 500 Facebook fans. The first official "Calle 16" mural will go up in October. "They can't stop us," says Esparza. "I want the city to crawl back to us and ask where they can help."

Art with a political edge is what this town's been needing in the worst possible way, and Phoenix's new Arizona Latino Arts and Cultural Center/Galeria 147 has been delivering. In a state where Latinos are under the gun, both literally and metaphorically — from the Legislature, in the form of the ethnic studies ban and SB 1070, to Sheriff Joe Arpaio's notorious anti-immigrant sweeps of Hispanic neighborhoods — ALAC's providing an outlet for the indignation and outrage of an entire people. ALAC's debut presented works from old hands like painters Ramon Delgadillo and Luis Mena, in addition to new ones, such as muralist Francisco Garcia, whose work depicts the sacrifice, the pride, the victimization, and the beauty of Arizona Latinos. Out of the crucible of oppression often comes the stuff of great art, and ALAC/Galeria 147 seems to be proving that with its very existence.

It was a collection of tentacles coming out of a Starbucks mug. How could we not love it? And that's just one of the bizarre creations we got to see at the Mutant Piñata art show at Bragg's Pie Factory. This annual event never fails to tickle our imagination with papier-mâché vampires and anatomically correct (or so we're told) baboons. You may be used to candy-filled piñatas, but we're telling you that the real treat is the eye candy you'll see at this show. Leave the bat at home. The mutant piñata show happens each March, during Art Detour, and the word is that several pieces from last year's show — including a fabulous vampire by Tempe artist Mike Maas — will appear in the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art's People's Biennial in October 2011.

Want to beat the crap out of Jan Brewer? Now's your chance — though at $85 a pop, we're not sure you'll want to deface your purchase. Leave it to Scott Jacobson — he of the impish grin and years in the middle of Arizona politics doing public affairs for a big, bad utility company. These days, Jacobson's pushing piñatas rather than power — though, really, his political spin on papier-mâché wields a strength of its own. E-mail him if you'd like one of his piñatas for your very own.

One of the best events of the year is the Dia de los Muertos festival, hosted by the Desert Botanical Garden on Halloween weekend and during the first week of November. The festivities include Mexican folk arts, storytelling, dance, and poetry, as well as a mercado with awesome wares for sale. Wander the garden paths and check out the ofrenda installations, pause to make crafts with the kids — like decorating your own calaca (smiling skull) mask or molded sugar skulls. There is enough pageantry and, yes, food to keep you entertained all day. Who knew celebrating death could be so fun?